Monthly Archive for April, 2014

April 2014 IN THIS E-BULLETIN FOUR ARRESTED BLOCKING CEMENT TRUCK TO JEJU ISLAND NAVAL BASE CONSTRUCTION SITE NATO 3 SENTENCED TO 5 – 8 YEARS IN PRISON GOOD FRIDAY ACTIONS AT NUCLEAR AND DRONE-RELATED SITES THROUGHOUT THE U.S. TWO VETERANS FOR PEACE ACTIONS AT BEALE AIR FORCE BASE BOOKEND APRIL WOMAN ARRESTED DURING DRONE PROTEST […]

Six military veterans were among 13 people arrested at Beale Air Force Base in Marysville, California early in the morning of April 29. They were attempting to deliver an indictment charging President Obama, the Beale base commander, drone pilots and others with “crimes against peace and crimes against humanity.”

All 13 demonstrators were handcuffed and taken into custody about 8 a.m. They were released two hours later with misdemeanor charges, and are to appear in U.S. District Court. If convicted, they face up to six months in prison.

On April 25 in the Cook County Criminal Courthouse, the NATO 3 were sentenced to between 5 and 8 years in prison. The prosecutors had argued that they should receive 14 years and serve their sentences consecutively, whereas the defense attorneys had obviously argued that they should receive light sentences, if not simply being sentenced to time served. Brian Jacob Church was sentenced to 5 years, Brent Betterly to 6 years, and Jared Chase to 8 years. They will all serve this time at 50% of the sentenced time (e.g., 6 year sentence equals 3 years served) and will receive credit for the two years they have served pending trial. Upon release, they will each have two years of supervised release as well.

From Wednesday evening to Good Friday, some 30 friends gathered in D.C. for the annual Holy Week Faith and Resistance retreat sponsored by the Dorothy Day Catholic Worker and Jonah House communities. We were especially blessed to have with us students from Loras College from Iowa and members of the New Jerusalem community from Philadelphia. The theme of the retreat was: “Put Away the Sword.”

Ten years ago, on April 21, 2004, several hundred of us from around the world waited with great anticipation outside the gates of Israel’s Ashkelon Prison, holding up signs saying “Thank you, Mordechai Vanunu: Peace Hero, Nuclear Whistle-blower”. After many years of campaigning for his freedom, the day had finally arrived: Mordechai Vanunu would walk out of the prison where he had spent each day of his 18 year sentence (12 of those years in solitary confinement) for blowing the whistle on Israel’s then secret nuclear arsenal. We were there to welcome him to freedom.

Our excitement had been somewhat dimmed a couple of days earlier, when Israel announced a list of oppressive and unjust restrictions on the soon-to-be-released whistle-blower. These restrictions continue to this day, having been renewed each April: Mordechai Vanunu remains under restrictions which require him to report and gain approval for any change in residence, to avoid diplomatic missions, to not speak to foreign nationals and which prevent him from leaving Israel, a thing Mordechai has wished to do ever since his release from prison.

About 25 people gathered in front of Lockheed Martin in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania in a Good Friday peace observance and protest, particularly of the U.S.’s #1 war profiteer’s ever growing role in drone war technology and spying, which includes:
– the production of remote-controlled drone aircraft,
– the Hellfire missile they launch against people thousands of miles away,
– and the space-based satellites through which the drone attacks in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Somalia, and Yemen, are enabled from the continental U.S.

During Holy Week in Hampton Roads, Virginia, some 40 people walked part or all of a 53 mile Stations of the Cross, visiting 12 military bases, an Army recruiting center, and Lockheed Martin, as the 14 stations. At each military installation walkers remembered the crucifixion of Jesus, the crucifixion of humanity in war, and the Christian call to disarmament, nonviolence, and peacemaking.

LIVERMORE — A group of 40 anti-nuclear activists, including a Dominican nun, were peacefully arrested at Lawrence Livermore Laboratory at the conclusion of an annual Good Friday protest organized by local interfaith groups.

An estimated 115 protesters gathered at Vasco and Patterson Pass roads for a worship service and speeches on nuclear weapons, proceeding to the lab’s west gate at 8:30 a.m., where those who chose to do so were arrested by lab security. Those arrested were cited for obstructing a public roadway and released.

On Good Friday, April 18, members of the 2014 Sacred Peace Walk took part in a ritual commemorating war victims and nuclear victims at the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS). Afterwards, River Victor and Ming (Nevada Desert Experience Council members) were married by Western Shoshone Chief Johnnie Bobb. They then joined 18 others in crossing the line onto the U.S. nuclear test site. All 20 activists were processed and released.

On April 18, internationally recognized peace activist Kathy Kelly was detained with ten other anti-drone demonstrators at Beale Air Force Base in California following a Good Friday prayer service.

Organizers said that they gathered at Beale, “in the shadow of killer drones, modern day equivalents of the cross, to pray, to act, and to build a community of peace.” There have been frequent anti-drone demonstrations at Beale, home of the Global Hawk Drone, a surveillance drone that assists in finding targets for armed Predator and Reaper drones.